Realize
by miknge
Summary: Will it be too late for them before they realize it?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This idea came to me while I was listening to Colbie Caillat's Realize over and over again. I had always wanted to write a fic based on that song, but it was never fitting enough for any fics and characters I have planned, then along came Britanna and the wonderful 'sex is not dating' quote from Glee, which brought about the idea for this fic. I love reviews, so please give me reviews to keep me going :D

It didn't take long for Brittany to realize something that she had known all along. She didn't know when she had started to realize all these things, but she knew that it was just recently when she felt all those funny feelings. It wasn't too long ago when she felt something in the pit of her stomach after finding out that Santana had slept with Finn. She knew she is the one who had suggested Santana to sleep with Finn because... well, because sex is not dating, so Santana sleeping with Finn wouldn't mean anything.

Except that she felt something that she didn't fully understand when Santana told her all about it at school the next day. The Latina seemed excited... happy, even, at her own conquest. She had done what she had to do to boost her reputation at school. Coach Sylvester is going to make her a Cheerio captain in no time. The blonde cheerleader didn't understand why she felt something like bitterness in the back of her throat when Santana told her how Finn was like in bed, and then went on further to compare Finn to Puck. Sure, the two of them are best friends, and they share lots of secrets together. Talking about their encounters with boys in bed were nothing new to them. So, Brittany didn't understand why. But she didn't dare to interrupt her best friend when the Latina offered her pinkie to link with hers, before walking down the school hallway with her to their first class, still talking to the blonde about her last night's conquest.

It wasn't until one night when they had sex again on Brittany's bed, when Brittany made a very big mistake. It was not the first time that they had sex before. It was the... Brittany couldn't remember how many times they had it already, all she could remember was how the first time when they had sex together, they were just practising for boys. Soon after the fourth or the fifth time, Brittany knew that they don't need the practice anymore because both of them had slept with quite a number of boys by then, but she never rejected Santana whenever the Latina kissed her on the lips and led her to Brittany's bed, taking all her clothes off and laid her down on the bed. She could never reject it when Santana brought her all the way to Heaven and back.

This time though, Brittany felt that their love-making was a bit different than usual. Santana had kissed and touched her a little more gentler than usual, her kisses and touches lingered a little longer than usual. It was very subtle from Santana's part, and yet the blonde could feel the little changes in her kisses and carresses. When both of them had calmed down from the high and very much sated, Santana still stayed on top of her, holding her close and looking deep into her eye (something that Santana had never done before because she would normally roll onto her side and fall asleep immediately after they had sex).

"It wasn't as good as when I'm with you, you know?" Santana broke the blissful silence off suddenly.

"Huh?" Brittany's face scrunched up in her signature confused look that Santana always thought to be so endearing.

"Sex with Finn... or even Puck... they were never as good as when I have sex with you," Santana clarified, stroking the blonde's hair.

This was something new to Brittany that she had never heard of before. Her heart did a flip in her chest, and she couldn't resist the next question that came out from her mouth. "Am I the best that you ever had?" she asked ever so bluntly that nearly caught the brunette off guard.

However, Santana collected herself immediately and smirked mischeviously at Brittany. Instead of answering her, she leaned down and captured Brittany's lips in a powerful, passionate kiss that was so full of love and adoration that the blonde could feel her heart exploding in her chest. Something that she had never felt before, and it scared her. All her feelings prior to this, from the weird feelings she felt when Santana told her about her night with Finn and then comparing Finn to Puck, to this indescribable ecstatic feelings now when Santana was kissing her – it scared her, but in a good way.

If Brittany was smart enough, or if she had the time to ponder over those weird feelings she had when Santana told her about her encounters with Finn and Puck, she would come to realize that feeling is what everyone would describe as jealousy.

When they finally broke the kiss off and Santana gently pulled away but still stayed on top of her in the very same position, brown eyes connecting deep with blue ones, that was when Brittany made that very big mistake. Out of nowhere, she had blurted out the words that had only meant to be kept in her heart and head. That three little words that could bring either joy or pain to someone, depending on the person receiving the words.

For Santana though, it had brought her neither joy nor pain. Brittany saw the mixture of emotions written all over the Latina's face once the words reached her. Shocked and surprised at first, then with confusion and finally, fear... Santana rolled off from Brittany, got up from the bed, put on her clothes and left Brittany's room without a word. Without looking back, leaving Brittany still in her bed, staring after her in bewilderment. She was too stunned by Santana's reaction to get up from the bed and chase after the brunette. She had spilled her guts out, offering her heart so generously to Santana, only to be crushed and broken by the one person whom she thought would never hurt her.

A stray tear rolled down her cheek as she took time to ponder on those weird feelings she felt few days prior, which had built up to this. She may not realize that the feelings earlier were described as jealousy, but she was very certain that the feelings she had for Santana at that moment was love.

She loved Santana, and it took her only now to realize it.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, except the OC (well, sorta).

A/N: I had no choice but to write an OC in this fic. Don't worry, she'll play little but important role in this story, and I promise that she won't break Brittana up.

* * *

Part 2

It had been four days ever since that incident happened. Brittany may not be the smartest person at McKinley High, but she knew the reason why Santana had been avoiding her for the past three days. The moment Santana walked out on her that night, she had seen it coming. It was inevitable that Santana would avoid her. She tried getting close to Santana during Cheerios and Glee practice, but Santana would have none of it, pushing Brittany away, and in the end, Brittany ended up sitting with other girls during Cheerios and with Mike or Matt during Glee.

Brittany thought that she could confront Santana after Cheerios practice in the girls' locker room, but Santana had suddenly changed her schedule and instead of showering in the locker room, she would rather take the trouble of driving all the way home and take a shower, before driving back to school for Glee again. She was avoiding Brittany hardcore.

They had even stopped walking together in the school hallway, something that didn't go unnoticed by all the other Glee members, especially Quinn.

Brittany was walking alone down the school hallway after Cheerios practice that day, and suddenly she became aware of Quinn walking by her side, out of nowhere.

"Hey, Britt," Quinn greeted.

"Hi Quinn!" Brittany smiled. She had missed Quinn. She had missed Santana and Quinn being friends, and she didn't understand why Santana doesn't want to be friends with Quinn anymore.

"So, where's Santana?"

"I guess she went home to take a shower."

"Seriously?" Quinn walked ahead of Brittany and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in tracks. The concern in Quinn's green eyes was apparent to Brittany. "You two are always attached at the hip. And I haven't seen you two together for these past four days now. What happened."

Brittany sighed, contemplating on telling Quinn the truth. Santana had told her not to tell anyone about them. Just as she was about to open her mouth to answer Quinn, a singing voice and strums of guitar interrupted her. Intrigued by the sultry voice, Brittany walked towards the direction of the voice.

"Britt, wait. Where are you going?" Quinn sighed and followed Brittany. They were going to be late for Glee.

The sound came from outside the school building, and when Brittany found the owner of that beautiful, sultry voice, she stopped and listened to her singing and strumming skillfully to the guitar. Quinn was now standing beside Brittany too, listening to the student that she didn't recognize before, singing. She had to admit that stranger had a beautiful voice, though.

The girl was sitting on the school bench, strumming her guitar, completely immersed into the music that when she finished, she almost jumped when she heard the sound of clapping beside her. She immediately looked up and her face turned pale upon realizing who they were. The former Cheerio captain and a Cheerio. She didn't want to risk getting slushied, so she immediately gathered her belongings and stood up, ready to make a run for it.

"Wait!" Brittany said, grabbing her arm.

"I'm sorry, I was just leaving and you guys can sit on the bench if you want," the girl stuttered meekly, avoiding their eyes.

"We don't want you to go," Brittany said.

"We don't?" asked Quinn, confused.

"Then... wh-what do you want. If you want to slushie me, then by all means, get it over and done with quickly."

"You're so talented. What's your name?" Brittany asked, ignoring the girl's earlier statement.

"Um... Br-brooke..." the girl stammered.

"Cool. I'm Brittany and that's my friend, Quinn."

"I know who you guys are."

"You do?"

"Of course. Everyone in school knows who both of you are."

"Brittany, what are we doing here, speaking to her?" Quinn whispered loudly into Brittany's ears, as she was getting more confused as ever.

Brooke heard Quinn's question and she was as confused as Quinn. "Yeah, I should probably go."

"Wait! You're so talented, why aren't you in Glee?" Brittany asked innocently.

"Glee? Glee club is only for losers," Brooke scoffed, before realizing what she had just implied and immediately clasped her mouth with her free hand in fear. "I don't mean... I mean, I'm enough of a loser already, getting pushed and shoved around, getting slushied, and I don't want to be more of a loser anymore."

"Can you tell me what's the title of that song and teach me how to sing it? Please?" Brittany asked, which left the two girls dumbfounded. Quinn had no idea why Brittany would want this stranger to teach her this song, and Brooke totally had no idea why the two most popular girls in school are even talking to her. And Brittany? Well, the moment she heard the lyrics of that song, it just seemed so fitting, although she couldn't remember the title of that song right now. She had heard it playing on the radio numerous times before.

"Well... I don't know... I'm busy and stuff and teaching people singing is not one of my favorite past-times. Besides, don't you guys have Glee that teach you how to sing and stuff?"

"Please? I promise you that you won't get slushied for a year if you'd teach me," Brittany pleaded, and it confused the hell out of Quinn. She knew she would never understand the taller blonde and her random remarks which never made sense at all. Understanding Brittany would be Santana's job, and Santana isn't here right now.

The girl narrowed her eyes contemplatively, before finally agreeing to help Brittany. "Ok... if you want me to teach you, meet me back here tomorrow, same time."

Brittany squealed with delight, before launching herself onto the other girl for a big hug. After the girl walked away and Quinn made sure that she was out of ear shot, Quinn shot Brittany a questioning glare. "What was that about?"

"I... I just want to try..." Brittany began timidly, bringing her gaze down onto the ground.

"Try what, Britt? You know you can tell me anything," Quinn pressed on gently.

"I promised Santana not to tell."

"Well, Santana's not here now, is she? And anyone who's not blind can see that she had been avoiding you for days now. She won't care. She doesn't care about you."

"She does! She does, alright? She's... she's just scared..." Brittany stated with so much confidence in her voice that Quinn was impressed. Brittany would be confused in anything else, but Santana. When it came to that Latina, Brittany was always very self-assured. "Well, I think and hope that she is..." Brittany added meekly.

"Santana? Scared? Santana and scared doesn't even belong in the same sentence," Quinn said scornfully, crossing her arms.

"You don't know her like I do, ok? So, please just drop it," Brittany pleaded.

"You know I can't just drop it." And Brittany knew. She had been friends with Quinn long enough to know that Quinn doesn't give up easily.

"Look, if I tell you, can you keep a secret? I know you and Santana are no longer friends, but can you promise me not to use this information to sabogate her? I mean, she didn't even leak out to the whole world that Puck is the father of your baby even when she knew. Can you promise me that you will not sabogate her?"

"Sabotage, Britt. It's sabotage, and not sabogate. But whatever, I promise you. So, tell me what's the big secret?"

"It's... I... I want to try to win Santana back by singing this song to her during Glee practice..." Brittany confessed.

"You want to what?"

"See, I knew you'd never understand." Brittany began to walk away, but was stopped by Quinn.

"Wait, Britt. I understand if you want to sing to express your feelings, yadda yadda and all that. Isn't this what Glee club is supposed to be about? But why would you want to win Santana back by singing Realize by Colbie Caillat to her? Do you even understand the meaning behind that song? The lyrics, the... oh..." Quinn trailed off as realization began to dawn on her. Heart pounding with worry behind her chest, Brittany waited for Quinn's response, ready to be judged and torn apart by her.

"I'm not liking that smirk, Quinn," Brittany broke the tense silence.

Quinn's smirk softened before she broke into fits of giggles.

"What's so funny?" Brittany asked, stunned.

"Well..." Quinn said between giggles. "It's about time that one of you do something about it."

"You... you knew?" Brittany asked in shock.

"Everyone who isn't blind knew about it. We even had a bet that one day, one of you will cave in and tell the other already!"

Brittany blinked her eyes several times to make sure that it was really Quinn standing in front of her, talking to her, and not someone else whom she had mistaken for Quinn. She didn't know that all the Glee members know about Santana and her together. She didn't even know that she and Santana had become one of their daily topics of discussion. But what had shocked Brittany wasn't any of that. Quinn was giggling about it, instead of judging her or tearing her apart.

"Well, good luck, Brittany." Quinn punched Brittany lightly on her shoulder, before walking away.

"Wait. That's it? You're not going to..."

Quinn turned around, looking at the taller blonde questioningly. "I... Santana told me that everyone at school, especially you, would judge us and tear us apart if you guys ever found out about us," Brittany said sadly.

"Well, hate to break the news to you, honey, but Santana was wrong. Look at me. Do I even have the energy to judge anyone at all and tear them apart? It only takes a teen pregnancy to find out who your real friends really are," Quinn scoffed at the harsh truth and reality.

"I understand. I... I still want to be your friends, though. I've missed you, Quinn."

"Well, you have to solve your problem with Santana first, then."

"I know..."

A comfortable silence buzzed around them, before Quinn decided to speak first. "So, what makes you want to tell her finally?"

"Huh?"

"What makes you want to tell Santana that you love her finally?" Quinn rolled her eyes as she repeated the question.

"Actually, I kinda had told her already, after we had sex," Brittany answered.

"Ok..." Quinn nodded, trying to hide the grimace as images of naked Brittany and Santana tangled up in bed began to plague her mind. "Go on."

"But she walked away without saying a word after that, and she had been avoiding me since."

There was such sadness in Brittany's voice that it made Quinn want to just hug her. "What a jerk," Quinn responded instead.

"She's not a jerk," Brittany defended, shaking her head vigorously. "She's... she's just-"

"Scared. I know," Quinn finished the sentence for Brittany. "You know what, you're right. I do believe you that Santana's scared. Underneath that tough exterior, she's actually a real softie, but I guess you know that by now."

Brittany's face lit up as she nodded. "Yeah, and she may be tough and beat boys up, but when she is in bed..."

"Now hold up, B. I don't want to know any of that." Quinn didn't want to know just how much Brittany knows about Santana. She'd rather not have the dim cheerleader tell her everything. Some things are better kept as a secret among lovers.

"Oh," Brittany breathed disappointedly. She had just wanted to tell Quinn how much Santana cares and how Santana is actually a very sweet and kind person, and that she isn't a bad person. She was just misunderstood. The taller blonde didn't see how there is anything wrong with that.

Quinn was about to say something else, when an all too familiar annoying voice interrupted her. She groaned and turned around, expecting Man-Hands to be walking towards them twice the speed of her motor-mouth.

"... and how many times do I have to re-phrase this to you over and over about the meaning of team-mate spirits? How could you have missed Glee practice?"

"Oh my God. I totally forgot!" Brittany slapped her hand on her forehead. "Sorry, Rachel."

"Ok, you, I can understand and even forgive. But Quinn? I know you're pregnant but that still doesn't give you the excuse to forget about it," Rachel put both of her hands on her hips as she stared at Quinn, demanding her for an answer.

"Well, if you don't know, my pregnancy hormones can make me forget about stuff sometimes too." Quinn returned a menacing glare towards Rachel.

Santana had wanted to just mind her own business and walked towards her car after Glee practice. She had had a terrible day today. Sure, she had been avoiding Brittany like a plague for four days now, but she had never expected Brittany to miss Glee practice. Even if she was not sitting side by side with Brittany in Glee anymore, but the mere presence of Brittany in the room had comforted her in the slightest bit. So, she was missing Brittany.

But when she stepped out of the school building, the sight of Rachel and Quinn in a glaring competition, with Brittany standing behind Quinn, looking so adorably confused as usual, caught her attention and like a magnet, it pulled her towards the taller blonde. She stopped herself right in front of Quinn, standing behind Rachel.

"What happened?" she asked, avoiding Brittany's gaze.

"Santana!" Rachel spun around, throwing the Latina a glance. "I caught both of your friends outside here, talking, when they should be in Glee, practicing with us!" Rachel turned her attention towards the two blondes. "Santana, of all people, was in Glee. I would expect more from the two of you. Especially you, Brittany. I thought you like Glee. I know that you and Santana aren't on speaking terms for whatever reason, but that is not an excuse for you to miss Glee because of her. Whatever your problem is with her, sort it out quickly. I don't care how. I'm not letting any of you guys' personal problem dragging me down and causing all of us to lose Regionals and..."

Rachel was still talking non-stop and it was beginning to give Santana a headache. Quinn recognized that look in Santana immediately. "Rachel! Oh my gosh, you need to shut. The. Fuck. Up!"

That immediately shut Rachel up. Santana was shocked and impressed by Quinn's curse word because Quinn rarely cursed.

"Brittany and I were just discussing about what songs she should sing in Glee, that's all," Quinn began to explain, and it earned her a confused look from Rachel and Santana. "Weren't we, Brittany?"

At the mention of that, Santana immediately snapped her head up to look at Brittany. Brittany caught her look and it was one of utter confusion... and jealousy?

"Yes, yes we were," Brittany confirmed as she slowly broke her gaze away from Santana and looked at Quinn.

"Come on, Britt. Let's go. I'll walk you to your car," Quinn said, offering her arm to Brittany, which she reluctantly accepted it and linked their arms together. "So, now if you'll excuse us, Brittany and I are off to resume our discussion somewhere else where we will not be rudely interrupted again..." at this, she shot Rachel a glare, "... and Britt will come back to Glee, surprising all of you."

With that, she dragged a confused Brittany away. Quinn was all too aware of Santana's dagger glares boring into her back, and she had to chuckle at that.

Rachel watched in stunned silence as both Quinn and Brittany walked away, before turning to look at Santana. "Well, that was... unexpected. I've never heard Brittany sing before. Have you? You're her best friend, right? So you must have heard her sing before. Is she any good? Can she hold a note? Is she..."

"Shut your pie hole, Berry!" Santana snapped as she brought her finger to her temple, rubbing her headache away. "That's it, Fabray. You've played with the wrong person," the Latina muttered under her breath, before walking away towards her car, leaving a bewildered Rachel behind.

When Brittany reached her car, she shot Quinn a confused look. "Uh, Quinn. I know you're trying to be helpful but I don't understand. You don't have to walk me to my car. I remember where I parked it today... why are you chuckling to yourself?"

"Did you see the look on Santana's face?" Quinn asked, amused.

"Yeah, and I don't like it. She looks..."

"Jealous. Trust me, B. The way to make tough Santana break her own walls and open up her feelings is to make her jealous first. Jealousy works for me, it works for most girls."

"Oh, ok..." Brittany shrugged her shoulders and got in her car. Santana was smart, but she had to admit that Quinn was smarter than Santana, though she never told Santana that. So, Quinn must be right. She turned on the car ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, her mind preoccupied with the song that that girl is going to teach her to sing, and winning Santana back.


End file.
